‘Rookie’ Moving Forward With Digital Hall Pass

A Noblesville High School student has developed a mobile app to drag the old paper hall passes into the digital age. PassWhiz creator Zack Baker says his technology is already being used in schools in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Florida. Development of the all-digital hall pass was Baker’s ticket to the Rookie of the Year honors at the 2016 TechPoint Mira Awards. In an interview with Inside INdiana Business Television, Baker says high school is the "perfect breeding ground" for entrepreneurs.

Baker says the environment offers a support system that will "help you when you fall and push you up when you succeed," administrators willing to take a chance on student ideas and a ready pool for peer review and testing.

He bills PassWhiz as the cheapest, most efficient and most secure hall pass solution. The 12th-grader is set to attend the University of California, Berkley in the fall.

He says his love of computer programming began at an early age when he checked out a library book on the subject. Currently, Baker is teaming up with a student from Pendleton Heights High School named Brandon Boynton. The partnership involves further development of education-focused apps like PassWhiz and Boynton’s anti-bullying program, BullyBox.

Baker explains his technology here: